


Quirrel and the Knight

by cycleofabsurdcircles



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: A Moment of Rest, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 07:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18806284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cycleofabsurdcircles/pseuds/cycleofabsurdcircles
Summary: Quirrel and the Knight sit together for a moment above the City of Tears.





	Quirrel and the Knight

The wan blue light from the City of Tears gleamed through the wall of ceiling-high windows, illuminating the two figures. The constant rain that battered down on the ornamented roof dripped about them through cracks in the vaulted ceiling, and the cold moisture formed a thin fog about them, diffusing the light from several loose lightning bugs.   

“Isn’t this a wonderful spot for a rest?” the sitting figure Quirrel said, tapping his hand lightly on the metal bench. “I so love the sound of the rain upon glass.”

His conversation partner, the little Knight, said nothing. They were dripping slightly from their brief time out in the deluge.

“Ah, I always forget, my short friend,” Quirrel said resignedly, shifting the great mask upon his head slightly, “you are not one for conversation. Well, before your journey into that gloom below, will you not rest with me a moment?”

The Knight’s empty eyes looked up at him, head cocked to one side. A moment passed, and then they hopped up on the bench and sat in unbreathing silence. Nothing broke their repose for a few minutes but the soft _plink-plink_ of rain on the glass walls.

Then, to Quirrel’s surprise, the Knight stirred and pulled from deep in their cloak a stained and damp parchment. A patchwork of colored pages was stitched to it, each with a crude series of geometric shapes. They looked away for a moment, as if trying to remember something, and then took out a feather quill and began adding more shapes.

Quirrel didn’t want to intrude but his curiosity got the better of him: he leaned back to look over the knight’s shoulder. At first it seemed a wholly nonsensical document, but slowly he realized that it was a rudimentary map of Hollownest. All the places the two had met before were represented: the astonishing black egg where they first were acquainted, through greenery to the stagway in solemn Queen’s Station, through danger to where they sat now.

The little fellow is mapping this ancient kingdom room by room, thought Quirrel in astonishment.

Eventually the Knight seemed to run out of new locations to add and stuffed everything back into their cloak. No sooner had they put the map away, however, than the Knight took out a small softly rattling box and peered inside. A number of badges were loosely scattered around the bottom. The Knight took them out one at a time and held each up in the dim light.

They seem to be considering them each very carefully, Quirrel noted silently.

After going through the badges a few times, they finally selected several and pinned them to their chest. They put the box away and nodded slightly, as though proud of their choices, and then without pausing took out a journal and began to examine it fastidiously. In spite of himself, Quirrel leaned back even further to see what the little fellow was reading. It seemed to be a long list of the creatures of Hollownest: the flowing script for each entry was entirely unreadable but the crude sketches left no doubt to what it was about.

What an industrious little fellow, Quirrel thought. Even at rest they prepare.

Finally, when the Knight had reached some unknowable conclusion, they put away the journal and looked up out the window towards the faraway courtyard where the memorial for the Hollow Knight stood, dank and mossy. Somehow the ominous statue and its three flanking figures had lessened in their gravity since the little Knight sat down. Their shadowy presence was no longer cause for hesitation, but for continuing towards a new beginning.

The Knight rose and disappeared into the darkness. Quirrel did not move to acknowledge their leaving, transfixed by the future he saw before him.


End file.
